Paul Scholes won't lose sleep over his England World Cup retreat

Paul Scholes will not spend a minute thinking of what might have been if England win the World Cup in South Africa without the Manchester United midfielder’s unique talents.

Fabio Capello’s eleventh hour plea for Scholes to come out of international retirement in order to claim a place in his 23-man World Cup squad was perhaps no surprise considering the 35-year-old’s vintage performances for United in recent months.

But just like Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren before him, Capello has discovered that Scholes has no intention of ending his self-imposed international exile.

He was only 29 when he called time on his England career shortly after Euro 2004. But for that decision, Scholes is likely to have passed the 100 cap mark rather than have his tally frozen at 65 appearances.

Yet while many fans and observers alike continue to scratch their head in bemusement at Scholes’s retreat from the England squad, the man himself has never regretted his decision to walk away from the white shirt in order to focus only on the red of United.

Scholes has always stubbornly followed his own mind. Even as a schoolboy, when he took up lacrosse with his mates after becoming fed up with playing for his local schools representative team, he has done his own thing.

He corrects interviewers when they ask about his childhood in Salford, telling them that he was born on United’s doorstep but actually grew up in the north Manchester town of Middleton.

So when it is suggested that Scholes continues to hanker after a return to the international scene, it is just another case of the 35-year-old being misunderstood. He drew a line under the story a long time ago.

Scholes loves football, but he isn’t consumed by it. Away from Old Trafford, he is a family man whose true sporting passions are cricket and horse racing.

The last thing that would motivate Scholes is a month in a hotel room in South Africa, away from his wife and three kids and the anonymity of the closed season.

If anyone is prepared for life after the game, then it is Scholes. Most players miss the adulation and celebrity when they retire, but Scholes has never chased either.

He is just one of those guys who grew up knowing he was the best at what he did, so as a result, he has never felt the need to seek out the praise that has nonetheless come his way.

So he doesn’t need to amass 100 England caps to secure his place in history, just as he shrugged off the achievement of passing 600 senior appearances for United on the 2008-09 campaign.

David Beckham might have run to the cameras whenever he scored for club or country, but Scholes would run the opposite way.

He will have been flattered by Capello’s approach and also respectful of the England manager’s request, which is why he spent Monday night considering the possibility of ending his six years in the international wilderness.

But the problem for Capello is that being a former England player has never eaten away at Scholes, so the Italian was unable to pull at his heart strings.

Scholes might now spend the summer watching England’s campaign at home, but he is just as likely to reach for the off switch and pitch the cricket stumps in the garden for a knock-about with his kids.